Boise State football

We’ll pass on a lengthy introduction and right to the picks. I didn’t realize until this afternoon that the SDSU-AFA game kicked at 6 Pacific. Thought I had more time …

Last week: 3-3Season: 21-21Five-star special: 2-3

All picks against the spread.Lines taken from vegasinsider.com (opening lines used).

Byes: Nevada and Fresno State.

SAN DIEGO STATE (minus-3.5) at AIR FORCE (Thursday): SDSU seems to have settled down after an abominable start. Thursday games are doubly tough on the road team, unless the home squad is dreadful. Pick: San Diego State.

NEW MEXICO (plus-10) at WYOMING: Remain dumbfounded by Wyoming’s loss at Texas State (by 21!) but like the Cowboys at home off a bye. Lobos are on the road for the first time since Sept. 14. Pick: Wyoming.

It’s early for a season-defining game — unless you’re in the SEC, in which case the event took place last week — but the timing does little to diminish the significance of Boise State’s visit to Fresno State on Friday evening.

Had Boise State beaten Washington, then tonight’s tussle in the Central Valley would be oozing Bowl Championship Series implications.

With one loss, the Broncos are much less of a threat to crash the BCS party, and Fresno State’s narrow victory over Rutgers prevented it from generating invaluable September poll momentum.

But you never know: If tonight’s winner runs the table, it could sneak into the top 12. That’s especially true if the winner is Fresno State and it’s 13-0 on bowl selection day.

And remember: The Bulldogs would receive a BCS bid if they are in the top 16 and ranked higher than the champion of one of the six AQ leagues. (Hello, Big 12!)

So if you’re a Mountain West fan hoping for BCS glory — and cash — never forget the cash — then Fresno State is your team tonight.

Welcome to the inaugural season of the Mountain West football picks of the week, which will follow the same format as my Pac-12 and national picks.

For readers new to the Hotline, a few housekeeping items:

* The picks will be posted every Thursday, with the exact timing determined by my schedule and the MWC lineup of games.

* The picks ARE AGAINST THE SPREAD.

If you see that I’m picking New Mexico over Boise State, it’s with the points, not an outright win. (Inevitably, there will be confusion over this matter.)

If you’re curious about the outright winner, those selections are at the bottom.

* The picks this week, next week and every week are for entertainment purposes only.

* I use the opening lines because it’s an easy, uniform approach, but the opening lines can sometimes vary significantly from the final lines. That’s okay, because the picks are, like I said, for entertainment purposes only.

* You’ll notice that the picks and comments for the five MWC vs. Pac-12 games are the same as those on the Pac-12 post. That will be the case for all interleague play: One pick, and one comment, per game..

The Pac-12 picks are back for another year of potential ridicule. My hope is to post them every Thursday morning, but the timing will depend on the schedule (mine, and the league’s).

I’ll also have my national picks each week and am adding a separate post on Mountain West selections now that San Jose State has joined the league.

The picks, of course, are for entertainment purposes only. I enjoy it and believe the blog posts provide a worthwhile forum for me to assess the games and for Hotline readers to express their hopes and dreams and share their skull-crushing disappointments.

Last year, I was 44-44-2 overall and 9-5 on the five-star special.

Note: Five teams are not listed below: Two are idle (Stanford and Arizona State) and three are facing FCS opponents (Arizona, Oregon and Oregon State).

With hundreds of college football games on television this season, it’s impossible to watch ‘em all and difficult to know which qualify as required viewing.

No worries. We’re here to help.

These 10 will shape the season and are well worth the couch time.

Sept. 7: South Carolina at Georgia. An early SEC showdown of top-10 teams features the nation’s top player (South Carolina DE Jadeveon Clowney) and one of the best quarterbacks (Georgia’s Aaron Murray).

Sept. 14: Alabama at Texas A&M.Much-anticipated rematch of the Aggies’ stunning win in Tuscaloosa, which propelled Johnny Football to the Heisman. His availability for the game hinges on the outcome of an NCAA investigation.

Sept. 20: Boise State at Fresno State. The top teams in the Mountain West collide in a Friday night affair that carries Bowl Championship Series implications: The winner stays alive. The loser is out.

Submitted my ballot to the AP office earlier today, and it’s posted below with comments on each team. I’ll update with AP rankings (for comparative purposes) when the preseason poll is published Aug. 17.

During the season, I’ll follow the same approach as in the past: My ballot will be posted on the Hotline late Saturday night or early Sunday morning with an explanation of the placement of various teams.

In an attempt to limit the inevitable confusion (outrage?) about what you’ll read below — and what you’ll read through the course of the season — here’s an overview of my voting philosophy:

My preseason poll is a projection of how I think the teams will finish in January. If the preseason No. 1 is your best team – your pick to win the national championship — then it seems to follow that all the teams should be slotted according to projected finish.

(Note: The AP purposefully provides no framework for the preseason poll; everyone has his/her own system.)

Once the season starts, I’ll begin revising the ballot based on results. It takes four or five weeks for enough teams to play enough meaningful games to compile a fully results-oriented ballot.

The Pac-12 is expected to release its early-season broadcast schedule this week. It will include TV assignments and kickoff times, which are of particular interest to fans eager to make travel arrangements ASAP.

Here’s an explanation of the process and preview of what to expect:

*** We’ll get the specifics for games on the weekends of Aug. 31, Sept. 7 and Sept. 14 and possibly the 21st, as well.

The conference will also announce a smattering of mid- and late-season assignments (more on those below).

But the vast majority of games will be left for in-season selections as the networks attempt to retain flexibility for Oct/Nov. It’s not ideal for fans, especially when Homecoming is involved, but it’s in the best interest of TV ratings and, alas, that’s what it’s all about.

*** Before the three networks begin their so-called draft, Fox and ESPN will make four initial selections. (The entire season of Pac-12-owned games is available.)

Fox has already announced it will broadcast Notre Dame at Stanford on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, a strong indication that it had the first pick in the four-game draft.